The present invention broadly relates to ammunition storage and conveyance and pertains, more specifically, to a new and improved apparatus for infeeding cartridges from a stationary ammunition magazine to an elevatable or elevationally adjustable firing weapon or gun.
Generally speaking, the cartridge infeeding apparatus of the present development is of the type comprising a cartridge infeed or guide channel in which ammunition is conveyed to the elevatable or elevationally adjustable firing weapon or gun, such firing weapon or gun being constructed for pivotal movement about an elevation axis and comprising a cartridge inlet or feed port.
When cartridges are delivered from a stationary cartridge magazine to an elevatable firing weapon or gun, it is customary to use a deflection or guidance unit which pivots or turns the cartridges according to the elevation of the firing weapon or gun and delivers the cartridges to the latter. A suitable deflection or guidance unit can be, for example, a disk channel as disclosed, for instance, in German Published Patent Application No. 3,204,499, published Aug. 18, 1983. The individual disks of such disk channel are rotatably mounted at a housing, whereby these disks are guided by rolls at the cylindrical inner wall of the housing These disks are provided with throughpass apertures, through which the cartridges are guided. In order that the ammunition belt is uniformly subject to torsional force, the disks are connected by a gearing mounted on a shaft. When this shaft is rotated by the rotatable or pivotable part of the weapon, the gearing for each disk is driven, whereby the transmission ratios are selected such that, starting at the rotatable or pivotable part of the weapon, the twisting angle decreases from disk to disk. A guide channel can be provided to ensure the passageway of cartridges through the throughpass apertures of the individual disks, such throughpass apertures being connected by flexible material.
Instead of the aforenoted disk channel, there can be used a flexible chute or guide as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No 3,437,005, granted Apr. 8, 1969. A flexible conveyor mechanism delivers ammunition rounds between a high rate-of-fire gun, for instance a "Gatling-gun", and an ammunition storage device movable relative thereto. The flexible conveyor mechanism includes an outer flexible chute or guide having walls forming a passageway generally rectangular in cross-section. A helical member extending through such passageway comprises a series of open wire volutes and is a relatively stiff spring-like continuous wire, the diameter of the wire being selected depending on the torque requirements.
Such flexible conveyor chute or guide transfers ammunition rounds under adverse conditions including twisting, fanning or bending of the conveyor as the result of the aforementioned relative movement
These known ammunition conveyor or infeed systems all have considerable disadvantages:
(i) The elevational range is restricted by a disk channel. For example, the weapon can be upwardly and downwardly pivoted only from a central or intermediate position, so that problems arise when the weapon is pivoted into the horizontal position or the azimuthal position.
(ii) A disk channel requires a relatively great deal of space and possesses a relatively large mass which has to be accelerated and decelerated during operation as the gun swivels and pivots.
(iii) Flexible conveyor chutes or guides are subject to considerable wear and stress when the belt of ammunition is twisted and bent due to the relative movement between the firing weapon and the storage container. Furthermore, such flexible conveyor chutes are often of a considerable length and, therefore, can disturb or interfere with the movement of the firing weapon.